PyDev crowdfunding basic funding reached!

The initial target of the crowdfunding for PyDev has been reached. Thank you everyone who helped in reaching that target!

Now, please don't stop sharing and helping it get to the higher proposal levels (having more there will enable more things to be done).

Also, I've had some people ask me privately on how things will proceed afterwards... well, with this funding, I'll be able to work in PyDev for the upcoming year, so, during that time I'll create a structure so that people that like it can keep supporting it so that it can move forward year after year.

Also, I hope LiClipse itself turns out to be successful, as the idea is that earnings in LiClipse will also help in getting PyDev going on -- if things turn out pretty well, I'll probably be able to get more people to help there too :)

PyDev crowdfunding / LiClipse initially supported languages

Right now (30+ days elapsed on the funding), things are looking good, the PyDev/LiClipse funding already got to 70% of its target (with 354 supporters). Thank you everyone! Please keep sharing about it ;) (http://igg.me/at/liclipse)

On the PyDev side, the new tracker is still not up, but I'm working on it (so, please buffer your requests until the tracker is up... I'll provide proper links once that's done).

Regarding the initial languages to be supported in LiClipse, I'm sharing below the results of the poll so far (note: only languages with more than 15 answers are shown).

python 152
javascript 106
html 98
css 93
django templates 70
cython 53
c++ 47
c 39
jinja2 37
java 33
coffescript 27

On the total there were 50 languages voted. There was one I didn't even know about (the Ren'Py language http://www.renpy.org/ ).

I'll still leave the poll there until the end of the funding (vote on poll) to decide on the initial supported languages, but note that even if a language is not initially there, I'll put up proper docs and provide support so that anyone should be able to easily add a language there ;)

PyDev / LiClipse funding (and initially supported languages)

Ok, 20 days on the crowdfunding elapsed and the funding is already at 57% (with 258 funders)! So, the funding is going pretty well so far. Thank you everyone!

Also, I'd like to give special thanks for the current Silver sponsors (http://holdenweb.com - http://kichwacoders.com) and the Bronze sponsor (http://wobe-systems.com).

Still seeking Gold and Platinum sponsors though... so, if there's a company that is a heavy user of PyDev -- or maybe the future LiClipse -- and would like some space in the PyDev / LiClipse homepage...

Also, I've put up a poll on google docs to help in deciding which will be the languages supported initially in LiClipse. You can vote at: LiClipse Languages Poll.

Note that I still have not put up a new tracker for PyDev itself (but I'm working on that).

Crowdfunding PyDev / LiClipse status

So far, the experience on the crowdfunding has been really positive. In 10 days of funding, there are already 168 funders and 41% of the basic funding goals have been reached!

Also, it was nice to gather feedback and talk to many PyDev users out there.

Regarding PyDev, reactions were pretty positive, but regarding LiClipse, they were initially a bit mixed.

On the dark theme, it was either a love or hate reaction, but just to note, although that's one of the major points of LiClipse, it will definitely not force you to use a dark theme -- it'll be an opt in, not opt out -- and I  expect that part to be the easy / fast part in the proposal :)

As for the languages support, initially it was a bit more neutral (with some ups and downs), and I think initially I did a bad job on explaining why I think that was needed, so, I've updated http://igg.me/at/liclipse to explain the 'why' part too :)

Note that as a result of talking to PyDev users, I did change the funding a bit too: there's now a special perk (named PyDev Knight) which empowers users who enjoy PyDev and only really care about a better Python support and not a dark theme or other languages (even if related to Python, such as Django Templates, Mako, etc).

So, I can only thank everyone so far for contributing and spreading the word on the funding!

PyDev funding and LiClipse?

I got some feedback related to the creation of LiClipse and its relation with PyDev in the current crowdfunding proposal (http://igg.me/at/liclipse/), so, I'd like to explain how I believe things fit together.

1. So, is LiClipse a fork of Eclipse?

Definitely not. The idea behind LiClipse is having 2 things:

• A way to theme Eclipse itself better and have some other UI improvements (I'm truly annoyed by not having what I'd consider a professional dark theme in Eclipse right now, so, I'd like to take those matters in my own hands).
• An editor which should be able to support lots of languages out of the box. Think something closer to other all-purpose editors -- as opposed to IDEs -- such as Notepad++, Vi, TextMate, Sublime, etc. i.e.: the idea is supporting lots of languages out of the box, so, the idea is having it resembling formats such as ultraedit wordfiles or TextMate language files.

To be clear, the idea is not to replace the more advanced editors inside Eclipse for each language, but to provide a lightweight way to deal with any language -- usually you work with 1 or 2 main languages, for which you'll have the plugins you need, but sometimes, when you just want to open a file in a language  you work seldomly and may not need/want to install a bulkier plugin, LiClipse would be a good addition to your toolbox (LiClipse is a short for "Lightweight Eclipse" BTW), and for me, not having this is a major shortcoming of Eclipse itself (and it may be an alternative for people who want less features and more speed).

Also, that should be doable without having to create a fork of Eclipse (although some theming issues may need to be resolved at Eclipse itself -- but on those parts, things should be fixed at that level, not on LiClipse).

2. How does that relate to PyDev?

Well, PyDev is very tightly bound to the environment it works on (Eclipse), and I'd like to solve some of the issues I see in it to improve its ecosystem as a whole, which IMHO is something I see needed for PyDev and Eclipse itself to keep moving forward.

3. But won't that divert too many resources out of PyDev itself?

For this proposal, my plan is spending my time 50/50 (I don't think LiClipse is a major undertaking -- all the pieces are out there, it's mostly a matter of stitching them together), although during that time, yes, it'll divert some resources from PyDev, but as I think that having it is very important for PyDev itself (as well as other language), I see the issues being tackled as very serious shortcomings of Eclipse which hinder the adoption of Eclipse itself (thus affecting PyDev directly).

4. I still think LiClipse is not a good idea and would like to support only PyDev.

Please e-mail me with those thoughts. I really believe LiClipse is needed for PyDev to keep getting traction, but if you feel that's not the case, please, please share your thoughts with me.

Also, just to make things clear, if the funding at http://igg.me/at/liclipse/ does not succeed, I won't really be able to support PyDev itself anymore (personally, I really want it to succeed, but I see the funding as the community speaking, so, if after 10 years working on it the PyDev community doesn't see it as a worthy goal or doesn't trust me enough to support me on LiClipse while properly maintaining PyDev, well, I really need to hear it and move on -- as a note, until now, I see the funding as a huge success, getting to 10% in the first day, so, if everyone keeps helping a bit there, it'll be awesome :)